John Banks is president of the Real Estate Board of New York. Banks began his career in politics, working with Mayor Ed Koch in the Mayors Office of Operations, first as an investigator and then an operations analyst. He then worked as deputy director of the New York City Councils Finance Division, briefing the legislative body on fiscal policy matters and helping negotiate the citys budget. Banks then leapt into the private sector, as the director of government relations at Con Edison. He briefly returned to public life as the City Council Speaker Peter Vallones chief of staff for two years, then in 2002 returned to Con Ed as its vice president of government relations. In 2014 he was appointed to head the REBNY. Banks graduated from Manhattan College with bachelors degrees in economics and government, and from Baruch College with a masters degree in public administration. He has sat on the boards of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, New York Public Library, Pelham Picture House, and Manhattan College.